More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

Chinese President Xi Jinping issued tough words on the visa woes of international media outlets today, arguing that journalists facing visa restrictions had brought trouble on themselves and signaling that there will be little respite for the international media in China.

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New York, July 23, 2014--Chinese authorities today sentenced a blogger to more than six years in prison, according to news reports. Dong Rubin, a businessman who has criticized the ruling Communist Party in his blogs, has been in prison since September 2013.

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As in past years, China in 2014 arrested some journalists and activists in the run-up to the anniversary of the massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. This year, journalists were also arrested in possible connection to an ongoing police probe into prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and for reporting on protests that took place in Beijing in March. By July 2014, CPJ had documented the arrests of at least 9 journalists since the beginning of the year. Of those, four were subsequently released.

Yet another set of rules restricting the work of journalists in China takes the concept of "overbroad" to new heights. According to guidelines made public Tuesday by the official state news agency Xinhua, the new rules cover various "information, materials, and news products that journalists may deal with during their work, including state secrets, commercial secrets, and unpublicized information."

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New York, June 18, 2014--China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued a circular today that, if fully implemented, will curtail Chinese journalists' ability to report. News of the directive came via the official state news agency, Xinhua.

Hong Kong, May 8, 2014--The Committee
to Protect Journalists condemns the 10-year jail sentence given on Wednesday
to a Hong Kong publisher preparing to release a book critical of Chinese
President Xi Jinping.

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Hong Kong, February 26, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists
condemns today's attack on a journalist in Hong Kong and calls on authorities
to conduct a thorough and efficient investigation and ensure the perpetrators
are brought to justice. Kevin Lau Chun-to is now in critical condition,
according to news reports.

Late in 2013, Time's
Hannah Beech posted a great blog on the magazine's website around the time that
about 24 foreign journalists were worried that the visas allowing them to work
in China might not be approved: "Foreign
Correspondents in China Do Not Censor Themselves to Get Visas," she told
readers. She's right, of course, and some more proof that they won't dial back
their coverage arose last week.

New
York, October 23, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the
immediate release of a Chinese journalist who has been detained since Friday
after publishing a series of reports alleging financial misdeeds at a partly state-owned
construction equipment company.